Animith's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Lighteyed]

Review Request Club

I always get worried before even pressing the play button about songs that exceed 4 minutes in length. Just because they have a wonderful tendency of getting very very repetitive, or accomplishing something that could have been done just as well in half the time. You don't have the problem of repetition, by any means, but there's still a few parts of this that I think could be improved.

The first two synths are nicely done; the first gives you the kind of rhythmic and harmonic element while the arpeggiating one gives more of a melodic feel. The two kind of go slightly in-and-out of sync with eachother; they never really reach a total synergy, which I guess is both a good and bad thing. But just when I was about to say it was getting repetitive, the entire thing changes at :38 and you get some new sounds coming in.
The light phase on the cymbals is a nice touch, although slightly overpowering of the synth beneath it. TO be blunt, the scratch was unnecessary, it just kind of messed with the flow a lot. And just in general, the section from around 1-1:40 had some odd points at which synths came in and out for the briefest of moments; not entirely noticeable, but still a little odd.

THe third transition from 1:40-2:10 needs a second look, I think; the lead synth has a very bright sound to it and it cuts through everything else in a way that gets hard to listen to for 30 seconds. That being said, the section after it is very nicely done; I especially like how the bass has a more prominent role, and how it kind of mixes more and omre with the beat as you get past the 3rd minute. The synth that comes in at 3:20 feels unrelated harmonically with the bass to start with, and then as the next synth comes along late into 3:40ish again, the bass feels a little odd.

At 4:21, I thought the track had finished. And in a way, I think it could have finished there and the bit that followed been a new track, because there's no real correlation between that and what comes before, and a 4 minute/2 minute pair of tracks is a lot easier to listen to than a 6 minute one, especially if you're like me and don't listen to D&B all that much :P

As a whole, this piece has got a LOT of variety. Cannot fault you for this being repetitive, because it never is. I think your somewhat unique problem for an NG track is that there's too MUCH variety; apart from the break at 5:37 into the sounds that had appeared earlier in the track there's not much cohesion between the different sections and sometimes it is just downright abrupt. If you shortened this a little, made the sections relate a little more to eachother I think it would be a massive improvement to this track. Because you've got everything here to make a good track; variety, nice synths, good melodies, a good drum beat and the odd bit of automation, but the transitions are lacking, and it's probably the only thing that's holding you back in a major way. Find a way to link the sections more and this track'd be even better. Finally, sorry for the ramblesome comment :P

-Review Request Club

Sawdust responds:

The synth from 1:40-2:10 blows, I'm probably going to like, rewrite that part.nth at The arps are annoyingly grinding.

Also the synths at 3:20, I think I messed up phrasing it, it sounds kinda wrong because of that probably.

Also I don't listen to D&B much either, like, I've only heard a couple songs, thought they were awesome so I decided to emulate the awesomeness.

Anyway thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll indeed try and add cohesiveness to this track, I'll probably add transition effects or something of the sort. Thanks!

[Walking in the Desert]

Review Request Club

And so comes piece number three! I remember reviewing your water themed one; let's see how earth matches up.

The piano to start with is wonderful. The chord progression starts of pretty melancholy, but then gets a lot happier; as if the sun was rising over the desert, and just for the first 30 seconds you get this great uplifting feeling somehow. And then when the strings come in, just...gah. I love piano with strings, I think they're sounds that compliment eachother infinitely, and you do it so well, here. They're really subtle, as if just ghosting across as a backing accompaniment, but they're present enough to really give an extra boost to the texture.

Love the change in melody at 0:56; I was about to say that the melody could have done with changing a little bit, and with this next section the piano starts getting a lot more lyrical in its melodies. The change in pace is also really nice; again giving that uplifting feeling. That I think the left hand definitely could have done with a little more variety; by 1:45ish especially it starts sounding a little muddy. But it was only for a moment...to be honest I'm trying to find anything to criticise about this piece, because generally it's pretty faultless. The melody is great, the harmony evokes a variety of emotions and the strings-while perhaps almost too distant at times-add a great layer of texture to an already awesome piece. I think I said it last time, but if I didn't: Your friend is lucky to have you writing for him. xD

-Review Request Club

Jabicho responds:

Hi there my friend! It's amazing knowing you checked my three pieces, it works great for an overall perspective about them. Thanks for saying that I join strings well =)
Hehe yep, sometimes I just let the left hand do little work, but I'll work hard to improve the part that it can take into a piece.
Thanks again for saying those wonderful words, hehe I'm lucky too to have people like you to help me improve =)

Thanks for the wonderful support! take care =)

[Infernal_Regions [Box-Killa]]

Review Request Club

Straight from the start you've got this sense of pace and urgency; the synth hits you straight off and the beat instantly feels fast-paced. The way the drums come in at 0:22ish is really nicely done; I love the way the synths are automated in general, it's always smooth and gives the track that extra dimension that you wouldn't have had simply by leaving the synths in their "natural state"

By 1:00 or so I think the drumbeat itself could have used changing up a bit, but I don't really notice that as the guitars are pretty captivating; the arpeggios by the later side of the minute especially are really nice; the guitar's not as much in the forefront as some of the synths elsewhere in the track, but it works well for that; it's got the movement in it that means it doesn't need to be so far in front, and the way it mixes with the other textures is very effective.

Closer to the end, the more industrial sounds that get added, like the occasional scratch or buzzing sound (don't know the real name of it, sorry xD) gives it the variety that makes the end stand out from the middle of the piece. In general, I'd love the bass to have been more prominent, or for there to have been a more bassy drum sound, just to emphasise that kind of mechanised infernal feel that the title suggests. That besides, this track is crafted really nicely, the EQ is pretty much spot on.

-Review Request Club

[.:A New Life v2:.]

Review Request Club

Nice start. The pizzicato strings were cool, but at times felt a little artificial; it sounded like there was a low arco string underneath it that could have used being brought up a little more just to flesh the texture out a little more. The drums were a nice addition, but were a little too dominating over the other strings to begin with. As it developed they kind of settled into the texture more. The melodies in this were really nice; they were simple, but that made them very strong and effective.

At 1:10 or so when the strings come alongside the piano melody was a really magical point, and the following 20 seconds or so was really nice; the subtle change in drum beat, the little harp glissando that was just casually present in the background, and then the really emotional string run up to the big climax at the end; in general the choices of instruments were just really well done. THe arpeggios in the strings start getting a little artificial-sounding by 1:50, but that might have just been me. The climax in general though was very emotive and effective.

The cutout at 2:03 was very abrupt, but it just about works for it, leading down to a more subdued finish. When the drum kicked back in at the end, I was expecting it to build up again into another section, but instead it just finished. If you get another look at this piece I'd really consider expanding it even further than you did, just to have even more of a variety to it. All in all though, this was an awesome piece. Keepe it up.

-Review Request Club

[Mans0n- Sound Of My Dream]

Review Request Club

Nice start, although the bass kick sounds almost too synthetic right at the start when there's just the one synth under it. By :15 where the beat's got more complex and more synths come in it's far less noticeable. And the beat it was playing throughout really complimented the other synths...I'm a techno n00b so I'm going to take a stab and guess the sound at the very end was kind of a manipulated hi-hat sound or something...whatever it was, it sounded very cool. ;D

The synths are really nicely chosen and they all come in and out well. I especially like the way the one at 0:40-0:50 and 1:15-1:17 evolves, it's really smoothly done.
The vocals were probably the highlight of the piece, I almost wish they'd come in a little more, but then again without them you get to hear the synths and the melodies/harmonies they've got a lot more...if you ever take a second look at this, maybe think about extending it? So you can play with the vocals a little more, because I think there's a fair bit of room to explore it a lot more. I'm in two minds about the ending; on the one hand, it seems a little thin compared to the textures that came before, and on the other it's a pretty nice and light way to finish a piece that was exactly that, mood-wise. But in general, this is pretty awesome for a demo. Keep it up.

-Review Request Club

Mans0n responds:

thanks for your kind review!

[Katlean prime redo 2010]

Review Request Club

The sound choice in general is pretty good; you've got the organ and choir sounds, and the more ominous-sounding synths which really help set a vaguely creepy theme. The drum was something I had a bit of a problem with; at the start the cymbal sound kind of cut through the sytnh a little too much (though this fixes itself as the texture gets thicker), and at points the beat itself seemed out of time later in the piece. And if at 0:38-:40ish, that's meant to be a drumroll? (I couldn't really tell) it does sound quite messy as a sound.

I agree with Haggard that it takes some getting used to, which probably does help your case as it's not meant to give an overall comfortable air. The way the different instruments come in and out, sometimes in a kind of surprising way, as well as some of the more unusual harmonies, helps the shock-factor a little, where sometimes you're just left with the lowest synths and sometimes you've got every single sound going. It perhaps could have used a few more synths here and there just to keep the variety up a little more, but in general this was a pretty good piece.

-Review Request Club

[Daily Dose of Drums]

Has potential.

As a few people have already mentioned, the volume in general could use with being turned up a lot. As well as that, some of the more specific levels could use a second look. The rim shots and bass drum you could hear pretty well throughout, but sometimes they kind of overpowered the other beats going on, and the cymbals in general always seemed like they were way in the distance.

That aside, I liked the main beat of the piece. It didn't evolve very much over the 54 seconds, but what was there was pretty solid. I'm in two minds about the pauses; in places, they seem very effective, but in others they seem kind of out-of-place. However, given the toms were at the forefront you've got a really nice jungle-type beat to it. This has got some great potential, but if you do get time to look at this again I'd say think about extending the length, check the overall levels and the levels of the cymbals especially, and maybe play around with the beat a little more; for such a short clip you don't really want over-the-top amounts of evolution, but if it was a little longer you've definitely got the chance to go on a little more of a journey, so to speak.

-Review Request Club

[TwilightREM]

Review Request Club

I like the melodies in general, though whatever effect you added on one of the first synths to make it sound all chopped-up like a pretty aggressive tremolo doesn't really work. It seems to take on a more rhythmic aspect at the climax around the 2:40 mark, but nearer the start where there's a less prominent drum beat to compliment it it's a little out of place. I can't exactly explain more than that why it seems to work later in the track more than it did earlier...I don't know, it just seemed a little surplus to requirements at the start? You had a nice melody going, it didn't need that effect gating up the smoothness of the tone like it did,

That being said, the entire thing was quite dream-like. It doesn't really travel any much distance (although it does have a subtle buildup throughout, which is very nicely done considering it's pretty much the same melodic material being used throughout), but there's this great ambient feel in the background, juxtaposed by this kind of odd-sounding synth in the front that by the end does start to simulate the kind of reaction you do get with rapid-eye movement; this sort of fluttered view of reality.

Don't get discouraged by the 0-bombers. Everyone on the audio portal suffers them, the trick is to realise it's the reviews that really count ;). For a first track, this shows real promise. If you can keep this up and maybe improve a little, you could have a nice little time here on NG. Keep it up.

-Review Request Club

KeptItHairy responds:

Ha, I see there are no fans for that tremolo, but I'm beginning to agree that It did seem too much and took away more from the atmosphere then it started off with. As for the beat, I made it more for that climax, which is probably why it sounds a bit awkward as I did have trouble fitting it into the beginning. I'm proud to hear that I got the atmosphere down. Its what truly held this piece together which is why its so important. Its so great having so many perspectives. I just hope my song is good enough to payback the effort for the helpful reviews!

[O.H.35 - My Dy]

Review Request Club

I love the superslow buildup in this. It takes a good full minute for the main riff to kick in and yet the first minute isn't really lacking; all the time you've got this sense of crescendo and build to it. Which is pretty nicely done, as most of the time buildups that length just get irritatingly repetitive.

The switchings between the keys/synths and the guitars is always nicely done. Whatever's on top, you've always got this nice undercurrent of synth and drum beat, which varies enough to not be dull in itself, and often has a few sounds you'd generally not hear in a backing part, which gives the track a lot more depth. The choice of sounds on the keys also generally complement the backing synths really well, whereas the guitar adds a nice counterpoint to them, so you've got a great contrast going on.

I thought by the 4th-6th minute it was starting to get a little repetitive, but not so much so as to be very irritating. The guitar in general was cool, but I thought it could have maybe switched a little more between the chords and the more lead-like part it had right at the start. Maybe have more times where the main synths/guitars are playing together, as well?

In general, it's a nice solid piece. The guitar's a little drawn back which lets them not overpower the keys, it's got some nice unusual sounds and harmonies in there and in all was a pretty decent listen. Keep it up.

-Review Request Club

OH35 responds:

Thanks you for your feedback!

[Out Of The Blue (Mans0n RMX)]

Review Request Club

Nice intro, especially the kind of breathy voice effect. The little transition at 0:15 was a little too abrupt, to the point where I thought the track had jumped. But after that, again you have a nice buildup, the drums are nice and prominent, the synth is well-picked and again you've got this kind of echoes voice in the background which gives it a little more characteristic.

THe transitions in this are definitely the major letdown of this track. When everything fades out at 1:25 it really takes long while for anything to really get back to a decent volume...even by 2:20 I'm still wishing things were a little louder than they were, or at least having one of the synths a little more in the forground so we had more of a point of focus, or have one of them play more of a melody so it takes on a better-formed type of ambient middle-section. Espcially the part around 1:51 is sorely lacking any kind of sound...at all, really. And when things do kick back in at 2:36, they're too abrupt. It's lacking the buildup it needs and even if there's no buildup to be had, things in that middle minute definitely need to be turned up a little in general.

That being said, once things do kick back in again you've got a nice strong beat with the melody and it maintains itself pretty well. At 3:16 the little change is nice; thought it might have been another odd transition, but kinda works well in context, giving it that little bit of variety. The ending is pretty cohesive and polished, and again the voice effect makes a bit of an entrance (Or so I think).

In general, this does need a bit of work before it takes that step from demo to full-blown track. I'd have like to have seen the voice part take on more of a role because it was pretty unique, and DEFINITELY sort out the levels of that middle section. There's potential here, so keep working at it.

-Review Request Club

Mans0n responds:

this is awesome criticism! thanks for the re